The Return of Private Fischer connects with a reader who had their own MIA family member “returned” from war. 

by Ann Howes 5 stars

I have just finished reading The Return of Private Fischer: A Love Story, the part-true, part-fiction story of a Korean War POW who survives the war in Soviet captivity and of the love he left behind that never stops seeking to find him and bring him home. 

Wow! The story was wonderful and moving to me for two reasons. First, I thought it was very well written and contained a great deal of thought provoking information about POW/MIAs and the heartfelt angst that is left behind for decades in their absence. Second, because our family had our own MIA that was explained completely and accurately to us. In our case, however, the remains of our missing family member was returned to us after more than 40 years. In August of 2011 we received the remains of my brother-in-law, CWO George A. Howes who had been Missing In Action since January 10, 1970. We were able to put him to rest and give ourselves some comfort that he had finally “come home.”

Andy, as he was known, disappeared in a helicopter “in bad weather.” That is the government’s story and they are sticking to it….The family was told by several sources that they were flying a black mission into Laos and that Andy was the sole survivor of the crash. He was moved to South Vietnam and “traded” to the NVA for guns and butter and then moved up the Ho Chi Minh Trail into Northern Laos. No one was ever repatriated from that area of Laos. His remains, consisting of parts of 7 bones (minus a skull), were turned over by the North Vietnamese in 1988. The comingled remains of the other 3 crew members were turned over in 1989. The 5^th man on the helicopter has never been acknowledged. Two of crew were identified fairly quickly (although no one has told us this, I think there were teeth or skulls with them) and buried without notice to the other 2 families. The pilot was identified and buried a couple of years ago but there was nothing of Andy until 2010. The Army told us in December of 2010 that they had identified his remains due to an advance in DNA identification. We waited until our grandson returned from overseas with the Marines for Andy’s service because our grandson asked to escort the remains. There is a lovely memorial page on Facebook with lots of pictures of the service and remarks. His hometown of Knox Indiana gave him a dignified but bang-up funeral and then we took him to Arlington National Cemetery for burial.

I found it so ironic to be given a book on someone waiting for and searching for a missing military man. I searched for Andy from Washington to Paris and anywhere I could find someone who would listen and try to help – including the infamous Cora Weiss. Although not Andy’s wife, as I read, the feelings came bubbling up of the desperation and frustration of those attempts. However, I take some comfort in believing that we have Andy home perhaps as a result of those efforts. There have been so many “rumors” of men in China and Russia and many have attempted to crack through that steel wall to little avail. I am pretty certain that Robert Fischer wrote more of a non-fiction story than most people will realize.

I am so grateful to have shared with Robert the story of his brother and am thankful I was given that book to read. It is so important to have that story “out there”. I hope everyone reads and enjoys this tremendously good book about something we should all understand better.

The Return of Private Fischer is one of those rare uplifting stories about something sad that lifts your spirit and makes you laugh with joy.